Gabrielle's Spoken Word Project

Gabrielle's Spoken Word Project

"The Mask"

I am an ordinary girl,

In a sick sad little world.

Every day I hide how I truly feel,

I have emotions, what’s the big deal?

I often cry myself to sleep,

Because of all the secrets I keep.

I breathe, hear silence, and cry more,

All I feel all over is ache and sore.

I’ve changed myself so many times,

As I get older the mountain is harder to climb.

Every day I think how everything can be a lie,

I’ve had enough to make me breakdown and cry.

I’ve been tortured with memories to my heart,

I feel like I’m falling apart.

As soon as I get home I take off the mask,

Dealing with the day is a troublesome task.

As I lay down and dream about what I want to see,

I ask myself, when will I finally be free?

In public the mask appears,

Hiding all the pain, unhappiness, and tears.

Acting as a happy person every day,

My fake smile never goes away.

As I fall asleep and wonder what my dreams will be,

I know that someday, very soon, that I’ll be free. 

Chacachacare

Every year around the 25th of May, my family is invited on a party cruise. The party cruise took use to Chac to explore the island. I went on the boat with a few groups of friends. As the boat set sail, I passed a few islands including Carrera ( The Prison Island). I remember passing Carrera and seeing the prisoners dance and wave to the music. When we reached to Chac, I decided to go on a hike and not to the beach. I hiked to the Leper's Colony. The Leper's Colony is where the Lepers lived. Nurses took care of them. However, it's all abandoned. I remember seeing the graves of the nuns. I saw the inside of where lepers lived, and there are broken floorboards and staircases. I hiked to the lighthouse after. The hike took very long because it was extremely hot, and the light house was at the top of the island. The area was abandoned and had a power plant. It reeked of oil there. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to see there, but there was an amazing view of the whole island. I returned to the boat and sailed back to Pier 1. I remember seeing dolphins in the wake of the boat. It was a fun, historical experience.

New York Trip

On July 11th 2008, I took a vacation to New York. I stayed at my aunt's apartment. The neighborhood was extremely noisy. There was drag racing, street parades, and people blasting music. The first place I went to was the Bronx Zoo. I saw my favorite animal which is a giraffe. I saw gorillas, lions, hippos, camels, penguins,etc. It was a pretty cool experience. The 2nd place I went to was Carnegie Deli. It's a famous restaurant in NYC. Many celebrities dine there. The restaurant is famous for its big plate of pastrami and the huge cheesecake challenge. I completed them, it was an accomplishment. For the rest of the trip I went shopping and spent time with my cousins. On the last day of my vacation in NY, I went to watch a play. I can't remember what it was about, but now as I think of it, it wasn't a great play. The next day I left and said my goodbyes to my family. NY was a city of great opportunities, and I hope to return soon.

Exploring London

In September 2009, I went on a family outing to London. At the time, I was living in London, but I went to explore London. I went to the Thames Festival, the experience there was exciting. I went with my family and a group of friends. I traveled through several subway stations to get to the Thames Festival. When I arrived there, the place was crowded! I remember seeing many gift shops and a variety of vendors. There was a few rides in the festival, it was mainly slides. I remember there were many street performers. I saw quite a few contortionists, frozen statues, people playing guitar, people singing, people dressing up and acting as celebrities, and magicians. My group went to the huge park where it had an acrobat stage. I was actually allowed to learn how to do acrobatics. I remember learning to swing from one bar to the other. It was a fun experience. There was also sports to play, there was football, volleyball, archery and cricket. I participated in all sports, and I even made new friends. For lunch, I went to one of the vendors. I remember the banner saying "Big Burger", I thought it was a normal big mac, but I was wrong. It was a 30 oz burger! I couldn't finish the whole burger. I was able to share it with 3 people. Later in the day, I went to Madame Tussauds. It was a really exciting experience because I got to see wax models of famous celebrities. I also went in a torture chamber, I got to experience what a public execution is like. I also got to experience 4D.  I remember being in a cinema, and watching a little girl go on an adventure. I could feel rain, wind, snow, heat, and other elements. I was a great experience in a cinema because not only I was watching a short film, I was in it too. Lastly, I ended the day with my group with a beautiful view of London, while riding on the London Eye. It was about 20 minutes long. I wish it was longer because the view is worth it. At the end of the day, I had an fantastic experience with my family and friends. I hope to return one day. 

Visiting France in 2009

In the summer of 2009, I went to France. The main purpose of going to France was to spend time at EuroDisney.  On August 12th, I left my home in England and traveled

on the EuroStar to France. I went underwater in a train! In order to get to France, I had to cross the English Channel and the only way to go was underwater. When I was on the train, I couldn't see any water, I was travelling in a tunnel.  I arrived in France at 12:15pm. I jumped on a bus and went straight to Disneyland. When I arrived at Disneyland, I received balloons. After checking in the hotel, I went to my hotel room and placed my baggage in my room. Since the time then was 12:45, I went to the amusement park. I remember walking down the pavements, and seeing the castle. The first ride I went on was the teacups. I was driving the teacup with my brother and my Dad. The second ride was Big Thunder Mountain. I'm not a fan of roller coasters.  In the ride, there was a tunnel to go through, and the tunnel was completely dark. It freaked me out because I could feel my stomach dropping and I didn't know what was happening because it was so dark. After the ride, I remember coming out crying because I hate the feeling of my stomach suddenly dropping.  I went to dinner later that night , and the food was delicious. I remember ordering shrimp cocktails for the starters, and a 8oz steak for the main course. I had tiramisu for dessert, it was delightful. At midnight, I went out to the parade and fireworks. I saw Mickey Mouse, Princess Jasmine, Ariel, and Cinderella. The best part was seeing their faces in fireworks! On August 18th, I went to the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful experience. I remember riding in a tour bus for 2 hours, and watching different tourists sites as I passed by. When I got out of the bus, I had to wait in a long line, to finally enter the tower. Going on the elevator, was a good experience, because the elevators aren't rectangle. The elevator is a square based triangle. It was quite exciting going up the tower, I remember seeing an amazing view of Paris. At last at the end of the day, before going back to the hotel, I got my face drawn. It wasn't a realistic drawing but it was a cartoon drawing. It turned out great and it looked a bit goofy. I returned home on August 19th. Leaving France was a bit sad, but I had a wonderful experience. 

Everyone else was laughing...

It was a cold, December day. The breeze was as cold as ice. The sky was a dark as coal. It was storming all day. I jumped out of my bed, expecting to see a bright, sunny morning. Instead, it was a dark, rainy day. I got ready for school and looked out my window. The rain seemed to stop, so I decided to walk to school without an umbrella. That was a bad idea. I walked a few blocks down from my house and it began to pour with rain once again. I was getting a little bit frustrated because I always think that I’ll be right but I’m always wrong. I reached to school late because I was being splashed by rain puddles too many times, as cars past me near the pavement. I entered school looking like a mess. My hair was as wet as a mop, my clothes were hugging my skin, and my shoes were all wet and dirty. I walked into my class, and everyone was staring at me. I ignored them and sat at my seat in my desk. My teacher, Mrs. Morrison, who was as old as the hills, told me that I should go to the office and get clothes to wear from the donation boxes. I walked down the halls, with my shoes squeaking and slipping on the floor, leaving a long puddle of water from my drenched hair, clothes, and feet behind me. At the office, I received warm, dry clothes that were baggy and a bit too big. I thought that the clothes would fit me right. I was wrong again.

At break, I went on the monkey bars with my friends. We had a competition to see who can stay upside down the longest. I have a fear of heights, and I don’t know what came over me to encourage me to go upside down, but somehow I did it. By this time, I didn’t have my shoes on because I was in the sand and I didn’t want to get sand in my shoes. I was hanging upside down, and then the bell rang to go back inside. I was too scared to get down. Line by line, everyone was heading back to class. I was getting anxious about what my teacher would say to me. I tried to wiggle myself through but that ended up terribly. My class had a clear view of the playground from our windows, and they were watching everything that was going on with me outside. As I tried to wiggle myself through the bars, I slipped out of my trousers! I was so embarrassed. I watched my class laugh at me through the windows, I was devastated. My teacher got me a sheet to wrap myself in. I walked into school in the hall of shame. I was as mad as a hornet. I was really mad at myself for always thinking that I’m right, but I’m wrong. Luckily, that was the last day of the term and everyone got over the incident because they were too excited to go home for the holidays. 

The Things in Life that I am Grateful for...

I was blessed with many things in my life, more than I can count. I have an amazing family, who are loving and caring. I have a wonderful home. I have food on my table. I have an education, I have many things. Those things would've never came without prayer. I'm grateful for the life I have. I'm grateful for not living in poverty, or in a war zone. I'm grateful for the life that God has given me. Even though, I ask many times, why me? I realize that I have many things to be grateful for and I shouldn't be selfish because many people don't have what I have, and by being upset because I don't get what I want is very selfish and disrespectful. I commit sins everyday, I always think that God may be angry at me. But God provides so much for us, even though we do many sins. I came to realize that God hates sin, and not people. He does a lot for us, and we still disrespect him. I don't want to be that way anymore. I want to follow him and be a child of God. I'm grateful for God being in my life. I would've been going straight to hell if he wasn't in my life. I'm grateful for the friends I have. They have always been by my side, and supported me when times were rough. I'm grateful for my parents. They are best things in my life. They always provide for me, they are always there. When I get in arguments with them, they still love me. I regret being rude and disrespectful to them because I truly don't know what it's like to sacrifice so much for a person. They brought me in this world and protected me from all the perils and dangers, that this world has been corrupted with. I can't imagine my life without them. I love them so much, and I can't imagine losing them. I'm grateful for the powerful God that I have, and what he has in my life.

Never take things for granted because they can vanish in seconds.